NEW YORK - With oil prices marching to new heights of close to $60 a barrel, the president of OPEC said Monday the group will consider raising its output ceiling by half a million barrels as early as this week.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries raised its output target by that amount just last week. The move appeared to have little impact on prices, which have risen by almost $12 a barrel in the past month because of concerns about limited refining capacity and rising demand for gasoline and diesel.

Light sweet crude for July delivery climbed 38 cents to $58.85 a barrel in afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, prices hit $59.23, an intraday record on Nymex, where oil futures have been traded since 1983.

Gasoline prices in the U.S. average about $2.13 a gallon, an increase of more than 40 percent over the past two years, but government data released last week showed that demand is up almost 3 percent from a year ago over the past four weeks at nearly 9.5 million barrels a day — a growth rate that surprised many analysts.

While soaring jet fuel costs have been a major problem for the airline industry, higher energy prices have not taken as much of a toll on the broader economy as analysts had previously feared. In the first three months of the year, the U.S. economy grew at a 3.5 percent annual rate, according to the Commerce Department, slightly slower than the 4.5 percent pace a year earlier.

The prospect of another attempt by OPEC to cool prices did not impress brokers, who said the effort could actually backfire by highlighting the group's dwindling excess production capacity.

Still, "it looks like we might have difficulty holding these levels," said Mike Fitzpatrick, an oil broker at Fimat USA in New York. "You're seeing a great deal of reluctance among buyers to pay these higher prices."

Oil analyst Andrew Lebow at Man Financial in New York said "once we're in this $55-$60 area, it's been kind of hard to justify. But it is what it is. It seems like we'll hit $60 at this point."

Brent crude for August delivery broke the $57.65 per barrel peak it reached last April to set a new high of $58.58 Monday on London's International Petroleum Exchange. It later fell back to $58.01 a barrel, up 25 cents.

OPEC President Sheik Ahmed Fahd Al Ahmed Al Sabah said Monday that "if the prices continue to the end of this week at the same level, I will start consulting my colleagues to release the 500,000." Asked by reporters in Kuwait what he meant by the end of this week, the minister said Friday.

Last week the oil cartel agreed to raise its official production ceiling to 28 million barrels, starting July 1, but that failed to soothe traders because OPEC's output is already exceeding that level as producers seek to cash in on high prices. Including Iraq, which is not bound by the quota system, OPEC is pumping close to 30 million barrels a day, or about 35 percent of global demand.

Another development brokers were watching on Monday was the threat of a strike by oil workers in Norway, the world's third-largest exporter. A strike could begin as soon as Wednesday because of a salary dispute, potentially slicing the country's daily output of 3 million barrels by a third.

"If you take off 1 million barrels a day in this market, it's going to get ugly," said oil broker Tom Bentz of BNP Paribas Commodity Futures in New York. "Let's just hope it doesn't happen."

While Nymex oil futures are more than 50 percent higher than a year ago, they are still below the inflation-adjusted high above $90 a barrel set in 1980.

Analysts said unlike the record prices last year, which were driven largely by concern over geopolitical events in oil-producing countries such as Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Venezuela, this year's trend has more to do with speculative buying, continued supply fears and limited excess production capacity.

Regarding this, I usually refrain from getting into these type of pissing matches but I was not in the mood for your disrespect that day. You are easily the most disrespectful person I have encountered on this board. In fact, I was amazed to hear how old you are. Can't believe a man of your age is such a punk. You literally sound like a seventeen year old who doesn't have a clue.

In the future I will attempt to not engage you in the gutter where you reside. However, I may not be able to resist reminding you how much of a punk you are.

No penchief, you've encountered other equally disrespectful people here, they just weren't aiming it at you.

__________________

"I'll see you guys in New York." ISIS Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to US military personnel upon his release from US custody at Camp Bucca in Iraq during Obama's first year in office.

The reason I don't come on this board as much is because of idiots like shitsprayer. Having a decent discussion became rarer and rarer because it always turns into a worthless shitfest. As you can see by this thread how easy it is for relevant thoughtful discussion to be drowned out by childish personal attacks. And yes, I responded to shitsprayer's attacks with attacks of my own. Not my usual style but that dude is a grade-A douchebag and I felt like telling him so.

Unfortunately, the guy is so immature and such a punk that things are not likely to change.

That kind of thing didn't seem to bother you so much when GWBush was in the White House and the disrespect was coming from the other side. Not that I'm saying you were a part of it, but you were here to witness it.

__________________

"I'll see you guys in New York." ISIS Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to US military personnel upon his release from US custody at Camp Bucca in Iraq during Obama's first year in office.

The reason I don't come on this board as much is because of idiots like shitsprayer.

Bullshit. You don't come on this board as much because you can't defend Dear Leader who represents your political ideology WHICH IS FAILING MISERABLY. It was so much better when you were accusing Americans of torture and war crimes.

Not saying that at all. Just don't let them make the rules. And if they are going to claim that "drill baby drill" is going to lead to energy independence and lower gas prices then we need to make sure that they aren't just blowing smoke up our asses to get their way. And we damn sure need to make sure their not gouging our asses after we let them get away with murder.

I have nothing against anyone or any company/corporation making an honest buck. I just believe that there should be ground rules to ensure that people are not getting screwed and harm is not being done.

What have oil companies done to screw anyone? Make a profit?

__________________

"I'll see you guys in New York." ISIS Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to US military personnel upon his release from US custody at Camp Bucca in Iraq during Obama's first year in office.

Bullshit. You don't come on this board as much because you can't defend Dear Leader who represents your political ideology WHICH IS FAILING MISERABLY. It was so much better when you were accusing Americans of torture and war crimes.

No penchief, you've encountered other equally disrespectful people here, they just weren't aiming it at you.

I respectfully disagree. I can assure you that most of my encounters have been respectful. There have been a few posters that have gone after me personally and I eventually got tired of their shit, too. Stevieray being one. He'd come out of nowhere and with a cheap shot when he wasn't even involved in the conversation. Another one that I've felt compelled to be stern with is Buc due to her constant mislabeling and assigning of motives.

Have I ever been disrespectful with you? If I have, tell me.

I know this is a rough place and that my beliefs are not in the majority. And I'm not all that thin-skinned otherwise I wouldn't post here. But it is not my personality to go after people personally. As I said, I have responded when I've felt I've been pushed. But for the most part I'd have to say that you are exaggerating greatly here.

Give me an example of me just attacking someone the way shitsprayer does. Or without being provoked. I'm not claiming to be perfect but I know who I am. And I'm just not comfortable with that. In fact, this bullshit with shitsprayer has not been fun for me.

I respectfully disagree. I can assure you that most of my encounters have been respectful. There have been a few posters that have gone after me personally and I eventually got tired of their shit, too. Stevieray being one. He'd come out of nowhere and with a cheap shot when he wasn't even involved in the conversation. Another one that I've felt compelled to be stern with is Buc due to her constant mislabeling and assigning of motives.

Have I ever been disrespectful with you? If I have, tell me.

I know this is a rough place and that my beliefs are not in the majority. And I'm not all that thin-skinned otherwise I wouldn't post here. But it is not my personality to go after people personally. As I said, I have responded when I've felt I've been pushed. But for the most part I'd have to say that you are exaggerating greatly here.

Give me an example of me just attacking someone the way shitsprayer does. Or without being provoked. I'm not claiming to be perfect but I know who I am. And I'm just not comfortable with that. In fact, this bullshit with shitsprayer has not been fun for me.

This isn't about you. I thought I made that clear. Well, it's about you only to the extent that you are suddenly noticing disrespectful posts when they're aimed at you but for some reason you apparently never noticed them when they were aimed at other people.

__________________

"I'll see you guys in New York." ISIS Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to US military personnel upon his release from US custody at Camp Bucca in Iraq during Obama's first year in office.

It's hypocrisy to you because I don't agree with you. It's just as "hypocritical" of those of you who bitched about the eight years of attacks against the business crooks who occupied the White House during the Bush Administration while you sit here everyday and post hatred against the current administration.

Are there legitimate criticisms against the Obama Administration? Absolutely. I'd willingly join in a sensible rational discussion of many I agree with. But so much of it just birther level stupidity. On top of that, idiots like shitsprayer don't want to hear a counter-argument so they pollute every thread with hatred. That's enough to turn anybody off. And it's one of the reasons why I don't post here as much.